


Snow Days and Shopping

by RedCoatsRedder



Series: The Life of a Cloak and a Sorcerer [13]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Mischievous Cloak, Other, Scarf Cloak, Shapeshifting Cloak, Shopping, Snow, kinda traumatized female oc, lovely old woman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:09:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21749572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedCoatsRedder/pseuds/RedCoatsRedder
Summary: It's winter, it's snowing, and Stephen Strange needs to go shopping. The Cloak decides to tag along in a new form and acts predictably.It certainly proves to be a crazy ride.
Relationships: Stephen Strange & The Cloak of Levitation
Series: The Life of a Cloak and a Sorcerer [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1105632
Comments: 3
Kudos: 28





	Snow Days and Shopping

The snow had been steadily spiraling down for all of the past two days and the better part of a third. Stephen Strange had been holed up in the Sanctum with cups of tea, books, and his favorite foods. Outside, the city was slowly being turned into a winter wonderland (or at least the closest you could get when you lived in New York City). 

But now he was out of tea bags, and the pantry was running low. So, it was time at long last to face the weather. 

  
He was pulling on his boots when his Cloak came swooping down the stairs and settled on his back. Walking around the house with his faithful sentient garment settled on his shoulders was normal, but whenever he went outside it tended to garner strange looks. It didn’t help that the Cloak seemed to be jealous of his (non-sentient) coats and jackets. 

Because of this he tended to stay inside during the winter, using his dislike of cold weather as an excuse. He only pulled the Jealous Cloak card with Wong. 

Now, however, there was no choice. “Cloak, I need to put my winter coat on.” 

The relic immediately tightened around his neck. “Seriously, we can’t go out like this. You remember how mad Wong got last time when you scared that cat and the video ended up all over the internet?” 

This did not seem to matter to the Cloak. It wrapped itself around his body, binding his arms to his sides, refusing to budge. 

Stephen sighed. He made his way to the library where Wong was working. He’d been buried in a pile of newly-discovered manuscripts for the entire duration of the snowstorm. When Stephen walked into the library, he found his friend asleep with his head resting on a desk amid old papers and scraps of translations. He didn’t have the heart to wake him, and briefly considered simply opening a portal to go to the store. 

Fortunately, the Cloak seemed to also not want to wake Wong, and released him. It floated off his shoulders, and waved its corners in what looked like an imitation of Stephen’s motions with his hands when he performed magic. 

A moment and a gentle glow later, instead of a Cloak he had a long red scarf floating in the air in front of him. It waved one of its fringe-tassels at him, then tapped him on the nose. Stephen laughed. 

“I didn’t know you could shape-shift. Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?” 

The Cloak-scarf formed the shape of an “M”. Stephen recognized that it was attempting to shrug, something that usually worked much better in its typical form. It looped itself around his neck, tying itself in a fancy knot. 

Though having his new scarf already around his neck made it somewhat difficult to pull his coat on, Stephen managed it. Three and a quarter minutes later they were heading out the door and to the nearest grocery store. 

Thankfully, the snow had kept most of the city’s population indoors. It seemed that most people had wisely checked the weather in advance and decided to stock up before the storm hit. So Stephen pushed his cart through the aisles, grabbing his and Wong’s favorite teas and a couple boxes of the other sorcerer’s favorite tea biscuits. He also grabbed a few jars of cheap (but not horrible) instant coffee crystals. 

He was trying to remember if they needed some bread when the Cloak reached up to grab a baguette. It dropped it into the cart and settled against his chest in a very self-satisfied manner. 

“Thanks. But we still need the kind of bread that fits in the toaster.” Stephen murmured, grabbing another loaf. Now they would have bread no matter what. 

They continued through the store, Stephen grabbing random things from the shelves, occasionally splurging on a couple extra things- some instant hot chocolate, mini marshmallows, that really strange looking fruit, and just because he could, a poinsettia. Its flowers were the same color as the Cloak, and the relic reached out to brush one of the petals with a tassel. 

And then things started to go wrong. Maybe the Cloak got bored, or it was enjoying the new environment that the store provided. 

Stephen was examining a selection of vegetables when he felt the Cloak flop one end of its scarf-self down on his back. A second later, he heard an outraged sound from his left. 

“Excuse me, sir, did see who threw this at me?” A middle-aged man glared up at him, clutching a head of lettuce that had clearly landed on the floor. 

“No, I’m sorry.” Stephen said slowly. There was no one else around them, and he looked around, trying to find a culprit. 

“Hmph.” the man gave him a suspicious look and marched off. 

The Cloak fluttered its tassels against his chest, as if amused. Stephen decided to give his relic the benefit of the doubt, for now. 

Not five minutes later, he was in the dairy section getting a carton of milk when the Cloak reached down and wrapped around a wedge of cheese. It placed it in the cart with a flourish. 

“No, we don’t like that type of cheese.” Stephen returned it to its place on the shelf. The Cloak picked it up again, dropping it in with a loud clunk. 

“Cloak, pick a different one.” 

Clunk. 

“You can’t even eat, why are you so determined to get this one?” 

Clunk. 

There was a squeak from the end of the aisle. A young lady was standing there with empty hands, as if she’d just dropped whatever she was holding. Stephen realized belatedly that the Cloak was now holding the wedge of cheese a good three feet above the shelf, which of course was something that a normal scarf should not have been able to do. 

“Um...hi.” He said awkwardly. “What weather we’re having right now, huh?” 

She took a deep breath, gave him a shaky smile, then promptly turned on her heels and marched out of the store. Stephen watched her go and felt a little bad about whatever mental crisis he’d just triggered for the poor lady. 

At long, long last he had everything he needed and was ready to leave the store. He stood in the checkout line next to a rack of magazines. 

“What a lovely scarf you have, sir.” An elderly woman, probably about a foot and a half shorter than him with a thick lavender sweater and silver-rimmed glasses smiled up at him. “Technology these days is so interesting. I’ve never seen a scarf that can grab things like yours can.” 

With a (mental) groan, Stephen realized the Cloak was browsing through the magazines and tabloids within its tasseled reach. It placed the current one, the latest volume of National Geographic, back on the rack and draped itself over his head. 

The lady laughed. “It reminds me of a parrot my grandmother had when I was a girl. It was so clever. It used to sit on my head just like that.” 

Stephen smiled weakly at her. The clerk, who thankfully had been occupied with helping out the previous customer, cleared her throat. He began to place his things on the belt, trying not to make eye contact with anyone else in the store. 

“Sir, you are aware your scarf is on your head, right?” The clerk gave him a cautious smile. “We’re inside, it’s not snowing in here.” 

“Yes. I know.” He said tiredly, turning back to his cart to fish out a box of tea that had slid to the back. 

“Ah. Mood.” The clerk said nothing more, simply scanning all of his items and bagging them. 

As he left the store, he could’ve sworn he heard the older lady who’d been behind him say, “Bye bye now, funny parrot scarf!” His fears were confirmed when he felt the Cloak flop down between his shoulder blades. 

When he got back to the Sanctum, he dropped the groceries in the kitchen, and placed the Cloak-scarf on the table. It immediately turned back into its usual shape and wrapped around his shoulders. 

“I am never taking you in public anywhere ever again, and nothing you do can change my mind.” 

Of course, ten minutes later they were curled up in an armchair by a roaring fire with a mug of tea and a new book from Wong, who had woken up and roared with laughter upon hearing the incidents that had occurred at the store. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This feels a little subpar, but it's been so long since I worked on this series and I wanted to give you guys some new content. I hope you enjoyed regardless!


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